Archive for December, 2012

Linda and I snowshoe hiked to the summit of Chief Mountain (11,709 ft). It was a gorgeous blue sky winter day. The snowshoe was steep, with easy route finding.

We had a lot of fun coming back a different way. We plunged through knee deep powder in the backcountry and summited a nearby peak which Linda had not done before. It was a nice day to be in the mountains. Linda did awesome, which is why she has such a big smile in the pictures!

For the Way Too Cool Race in March, my coach, Lea, sent me bi-weekly training schedules. It was very cool to have her taking the guess work out of things. Every day, I merely looked on the fridge and followed the plan. It was so easy!

It was also nice because Lea mixed things up; I never did the same run twice. One day I’d do hills, another I’d do a time trial, another I’d do sprinting. The variety kept me excited and engaged. When it was time for my “lunch” time run, I was out the door!

I love running in the winter time, so most of my runs were in cold weather and about half of them were in 1 to 5 inches of snow! The snow runs were the best though, because it was so easy on my knees. Also, if I fell, there was no penalty…just, POOOF!, and I’d disappear in a cloud of white puffy stuff.(more…)

Erin and I hiked from the Ranger Station in Eldorado Canyon, over to Walker Ranch. We then hiked the loop, and came back. It was a wintry day, but still a pleasant jaunt. We had fabulous views of Eldorado Canyon and did a tiny bit of off trail wandering, which was fun.

For the Way Too Cool 50K endurance race! I can’t believe I won a spot to participate in this much sought after race!

Way Too Cool is a very special 50k trail race near Auburn, CA. Only 1000 participants are selected, so it’s a small yet premier event. The race is on the same trail as the Western States 100 Mile Ultra and the single track trail is absolutely gorgeous!

While I was waiting for the lottery results, I started looking for a coach. Also, during the month of November, I had slowly ramped up my running to a base level fitness, in anticipation of winning the chance to run. When I finally found my coach Lea, I was up to 1 hour of running 6 days a week. I hoped it would be sufficient, as race day was only 3 months away.

My largest concern was being healthy on race day. Would my body hold up during training for this 50K? Would I find the right nutritional balance? Would I enjoy the race?

With Lea as my coach I felt much more assured of having a positive outcome. After our first telephone conference, I was sure she was the right fit. She has years of experience in coaching as well as the education and skills to provide first rate training plans. She sent me my first 2 week schedule and I was jazzed, there was an awesome mix of strength and endurance; plus extra curricular activity (not just running)!

Now, I just had to do what Lea says and with a bit of luck, I’d be running all the Way Too Cool!